(AMERICAN REVOLUTION PRINTS) George Washington Esqr General

Sale 2163 - Lot 26

Price Realized: $ 4,320

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 2,500 - $ 3,500

NO CLOSE RESEMBLANCE TO A DOLLAR BILL (AMERICAN REVOLUTION--PRINTS.) George Washington, Esqr., General and Commander in Chief of the Continental Army in America. Mezzotint, 17.5 x 12 inches, by an anonymous engraver after "Alexander Campbell of Williamsburgh in Virginia." 2 short creases visible faintly in the background parts of the image, otherwise superb condition for a print of this vintage. London: C. Shepherd, 9 September 1775

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Additional Details

A lovely wide-margined 3/4-length portrait of the general standing confidently as a battle rages behind him. Print seller C. Shepherd, responding to a great European demand for images of the American Revolution, issued a series of portraits during the war's first months, including 3 poses of General Washington. However, Washington had never crossed the Atlantic and no other Washington images were available on the market until 1781, so these portraits were apparently created from Shepherd's imagination. No other record has been found of an actual artist named Alexander Campbell working in Virginia during this period. "If the publishers assumed that priority alone would make these . . . likenesses popular, they were right . . . Within only a few years these fictitious images of Washington had spread through Europe"--Wick Washington pages 18-22. "These Shepherd prints alone furnished to Europe a representation of Washington's appearance, and for that reason they have considerable importance"--Morgan & Fielding, Life Portraits of Washington, page 53. Cresswell, American Revolution 206 (different state); Hart, Portraits of Washington 730.